Channelview: Homeowner stops burglar

[seamusTX]

On Monday, a home in Channelview (Houston area) was burglarized. On Tuesday, the homeowner saw a strange car in his driveway about 3:30 p.m. The homeowner armed himself and went to investigate. The "suspected" burglar produced a tire iron and advanced toward the homeowner. The homeowner shot the man, who kept advancing. The homeowner fired a second shot. The suspect got into his car and tried to grab the homeowner's pistol (I have trouble picturing this situation). The homeowner fired more shots. The suspect tried to drive away, but crashed into a carport, which collapsed on him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The homeowner was uninjured. Police say that the case looks like justified self defense.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bre ... 51747.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I mentioned in another thread that some criminals seem not to care about being caught or killed. This was such a case, assuming all the fact are reported correctly.

- Jim

[Commander Cody]

Looks like a nice carport. Too bad it was damaged. Glad it turned out well for the home owner.

[USA1]

saw this on the news ...i turned to my wife , and we just smiled to each other .

another point for the good guys .

[joe817]

Wow! The homeowner used a .45 to defend himself. He pumped 4 or 5 rounds into the BG. And then he got into his car and drove off....for a little ways. The BG must have been pretty big to take that kind of punishment. But it matters not, as the good guy prevailed in defending himself and his property.

[USA1]

The homeowner used a .45 to defend himself.

ouchy

[CrimsonSoul]

The homeowner should sue the burglars family for the repairs to the carport, that would be hi-lari-ous!

[seamusTX]

You can't sue the family of an adult for the actions of the adult. You could sue his estate, but it is probably worthless.

If the vehicle was insured, the homeowner's insurance will probably collect damages from that insurance company.

- Jim

[DoubleJ]

You can't sue the family of an adult for the actions of the adult. You could sue his estate, but it is probably worthless.

If the vehicle was insured, the homeowner's insurance will probably collect damages from that insurance company.

- Jim

haha sue his estate and end up in debt!

[A-R]

Wow! The homeowner used a .45 to defend himself. He pumped 4 or 5 rounds into the BG. And then he got into his car and drove off....for a little ways. The BG must have been pretty big to take that kind of punishment. But it matters not, as the good guy prevailed in defending himself and his property.

That was my first thought too. Takes a shot from a .45 and then keeps coming. Takes another shot and then struggles for the gun. Multiple additional shots and then gets into car and drives a short distance?

DANG!

(of course, we don't know where any of these shots hit - could've been arms, legs etc).

[Excaliber]

Wow! The homeowner used a .45 to defend himself. He pumped 4 or 5 rounds into the BG. And then he got into his car and drove off....for a little ways. The BG must have been pretty big to take that kind of punishment. But it matters not, as the good guy prevailed in defending himself and his property.

That was my first thought too. Takes a shot from a .45 and then keeps coming. Takes another shot and then struggles for the gun. Multiple additional shots and then gets into car and drives a short distance?

DANG!

(of course, we don't know where any of these shots hit - could've been arms, legs etc).

Contrary to being unusual, this is the type of activity one should expect from a shot aggressor, even when the caliber used starts with a 4. When deadly force is employed, be prepared to keep shooting until the aggressor ceases being an active threat.

Unless one's shot(s) score a solid central nervous system hit or break a major skeletal support structure (spine, pelvis), an involuntary stop depends on enough blood loss to cause unconsciousness. This takes time, and the aggressor is fully capable of inflicting fatal injuries on the defender during that interval. You could get lucky and find you've engaged someone who gives up when he realizes he's been shot, but you wouldn't be wise to count on that.

Details in this incident report are sparse, but the article suggests that the homeowner may have closed the distance between himself and the intruder after his first shots and made himself vulnerable to a gun grab attempt by doing so. A more survivable tactic is to increase distance and take solid cover while maintaining continuous observation of the suspect and the rest of your 360 degree environment until help arrives (in case the first guy wasn't alone).

[Frost]

(of course, we don't know where any of these shots hit - could've been arms, legs etc).

There's also plenty of paths through the torso that don't intersect anything immediately incapacitating.

[USA1]

Contrary to being unusual, this is the type of activity one should expect from a shot aggressor

+1,000 - I can speak from experience on this one.

thats funny , you don't strike me as being an aggressor .

[FlynJay]

If I am forced to shoot somebody they are getting at least 3 rounds center of mass before ducking for cover. In all likely hood 1 shot is not going to be enough no matter what caliber you're carrying.